1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to a system and method for proxy filing and closing of flight plans.
2. Description of Related Art
When a pilot is about to undertake a trip by aircraft, the pilot may file a flight plan with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to inform them of the specifics of the trip that the pilot intends to make. These specifics include, for example, the aircraft identification, the type of aircraft, the expected airspeed, the departure point, the departure time, the cruising altitude, the route of the flight, the destination, the estimated time enroute, the amount of fuel on board the aircraft, the alternate airports, the pilot's name, address and telephone number, a contact at the destination, and the like. This information is filed with the FAA using FAA Form 7233-1 entitled the Flight Plan. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an example FAA Form 7233-1.
Typically, the FAA Form 7233-1 is filed by hand at the departure point for the aircraft. Filing by hand involves the pilot filling out the form manually and providing the completed form to airport personnel who then call an FAA telephone number and provide the answers on the form to an FAA representative. The FAA representative then enters into the FAA computer system the flight plan information. Alternatively, the pilot may contact the FAA via the FAA telephone number directly and file the flight plan.
Once a flight plan is filed, the pilot is required to contact the FAA to “close” the flight plan within 30 minutes of the estimated arrival time. What is meant by “closing” the flight plan is that the pilot informs the FAA of his/her arrival at the destination and thereby, cancels the flight plan from the FAA computer system. If the pilot does not close the flight plan within the 30 minute time window, the FAA and airport officials begin a search to locate the aircraft and pilot. In this way, flight plans provide a mechanism by which the FAA and airports may determine if an aircraft is missing or may be in need of assistance.
Pilots often times forget or fail to close out flight plans once they arrive at the destination. This causes the FAA and airport officials to instigate unnecessary searches for aircraft and pilots. Because of this, pilots often decide not to file flight plans (which are optional and not required by the FAA) in order to avoid problems with the FAA and airports when they fail or forget to close out flight plans.
In view of the above, it would be beneficial to have a system and method for filing and closing flight plans that is more convenient and consistent than the current manual approach. It would further be beneficial to have a system and method for filing flight plans via a proxy device and for automatically closing out flight plans upon arrival of the aircraft at its destination.